College football rankings 2017: Alabama’s preseason No. 1 in the AP and across the board

August is almost over, and the air has that new-season smell to it. And with a new season coming, we need new rankings to argue about. In fact, before we even get to the actual teams in the rankings, the argument about preseason rankings is existential: Do we even need the standings in August at all?

Whichever side you fall on in that debate, the preseason rankings are indeed here, now that the AP Poll has officially joined the mix. It will likely come as no surprise that Alabama is dominantly No. 1 across the board.

Beyond the Tide are usual suspects like Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Penn State in various orders. The AP Poll has FSU No. 3, making Bama-FSU the biggest opening game in sport history. That’s largely because they’re the most known quantities in what is a very uncertain sport. Go with what you know, and bluebloods who contended for Playoff spots last season are as good a bet as any.

College football preseason rankings 2017

Rank

AP Poll

Coaches

S&P+

Sagarin

Rank

AP Poll

Coaches

S&P+

Sagarin

1

Alabama

Alabama

Alabama

Alabama

2

Ohio State

Ohio State

Florida State

Ohio State

3

Florida State

Florida State

Ohio State

Florida State

4

USC

USC

LSU

Oklahoma

5

Clemson

Clemson

Oklahoma

Auburn

6

Penn State

Penn State

Clemson

Clemson

7

Oklahoma

Washington

USC

LSU

8

Washington

Oklahoma

Auburn

Washington

9

Wisconsin

Michigan

Penn State

Wisconsin

10

Oklahoma State

Wisconsin

Michigan

Penn State

11

Michigan

Oklahoma State

Wisconsin

Oklahoma State

12

Auburn

LSU

Stanford

USC

13

LSU

Auburn

Louisville

Michigan

14

Stanford

Stanford

Florida

Stanford

15

Georgia

Georgia

Notre Dame

Miami

16

Louisville

Florida

Washington

Arkansas

17

Florida

Louisville

Texas

Notre Dame

18

Miami

Miami

Miami

Georgia

19

USF

Kansas State

TCU

Louisville

20

Kansas State

West Virginia

Oklahoma State

Kansas State

21

Virginia Tech

South Florida

Georgia

Texas A&M

22

West Virginia

Virginia Tech

Texas A&M

Virginia Tech

23

Texas

Texas

Ole Miss

Florida

24

Washington State

Tennessee

Virginia Tech

Utah

25

Tennessee

Utah

Tennessee

Northwestern

The four rankings used here

The Associated Press Top 25: The longest-running and best-respected human poll. Didn’t have any official bearing on the latter years of the BCS and doesn’t have any official bearing on the Playoff. During the season the AP Poll can be expected early afternoon on Sundays during the regular season.

The USA Today Coaches Poll: Formerly part of the BCS and now just a poll. It tends to react more cautiously than the AP’s. Though polling athletic departments to rank other athletic departments is dubious, we still want multiple human polls in here, and this is the other big one. This poll typically rolls in around noon on Sundays during the regular seasons.

Bill Connelly’s S&P+ ratings: SB Nation’s favored advanced stat. An important thing to keep in mind: It will probably look different than the human polls, but that’s because it isn’t a human poll! It’s a measure of efficiency derived from play-by-play and drive data from every FBS game. It’s designed to predict which teams would win upcoming games, not award teams for impressive wins.